THE 


RUBAIYAT 


-A  PERSIAN- 
*  KITTEN  • 


-OLIVER  HERFORD 


y  l/anaer  Weyde 


OLIVER   HERFORD 

Famous  artist,  wit  and  playwright.    The  cat  in  this  picture  was,  in  its  early  youth,  the 
inspiration  for  Mr.  Herford's  "Rubaiyat  of  a  Persian  Kitten" 


GIFT  OF 
Mrs.    I.   M.   Aiken 


Rubaiyat  of  a 
Persian  Kitten 


BOOKS    BY   OLIVER    HERFORD 

WITH    PICTURES    BY    THE    AUTHOR 

PUBLISHED  BY  CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S  SONS 


THE  BASHFUL  EARTHQUAKE.  .  .  .$1.25 

A    CHILD'S     PRIMER     OF    NATURAL    HIS 
TORY  $1.25 

OVERHEARD  IN  A  GARDEN $1.25 

MORE  ANIMALS net,  $1.00 

THE     RUBAIYAT      OF     A     PERSIAN     KIT 
TEN     net,  $1.00 

THE  FAIRY  GODMOTHER-IN-LAW    net,  $1.00 


Rubaiyat 

of  a 

Persian  Kitten 


By 

Oliver  f)erford 


Charles  Scrtbmr's  Sone 


Copyright,  1904,  by 
Oliver  fierf ord 


THE  DEVlNNE  PRE8€. 


Cbe  Rubaiyat  of  a 
Persian  Kitten 


ake!  for  the  Golden  Cat  baa 

put  to  flight 
'Che  JVIouse  of  Darkness 

with  his  paw  of  Light: 
3dbicb  means,  in  plain  and 

simple  every-day 
Qnoriental  Speech-  -'Che  Dawn 

is  bright. 


'  raw . 

§&m 

^ 

•'Coy  Sv 


c 


bey  say  the  Garly  Bird  the 
3Horm  shall  taste, 
rise,  O  Kitten !  (Wherefore, 
sleeping,  waste 

The  fruits  of  Virtue ?  Quick! 

the  early  Bird 
soon  be  on  the  flutter— O 

make  baste! 


Garly  Bird  has  gone,  and 
with  him  ta'en 
The  early  aiorm— Hlas!  the 

JMoral  's  plain, 
O  Senseless  Cdorm !    Thus, 

thus  we  are  repaid 
for  early  Rising— I  shall  doze 

again* 


Che  JVIouse  makes  merry  'mid 
the  Larder  Shelves, 
"Che  Bird  for  Dinner  in  the 

Garden  delves. 
I  often  wonder  what  the 

creatures  eat 

One  half  so  toothsome  as  they 

are  themselves. 


Hnd  that  Inverted  Bowl  of 
Sfcyblue  Delf 
'Chat  helpless  lies  upon  the 

pantry  Shelf- 
Lift  not  your  eyes  to  It  for 

help,  for  It 
Is  quite  as  empty  as  you  are 

yourself. 


Ce  Ball  no  question  makes  of 
Hyes  or  ftaes, 
But  right  or  left,  as  strikes  the 

Kitten,  goes; 
Yet  why,  altho'  I  toss  it  far 

Hfield, 
It  still  retumeth — Goodness 

only  knows! 


H  Secret  presence  that  my 
likeness  feigns, 

Hnd  yet,  quicksilver-like,  eludes 

my  pains- 
In  vain  I  look  for  Rim 

behind  the  glass; 
F)e  is  not  there,  and  yet  f>e  still 

remains. 


hat  out  of  airy  ffotbing  to 

invoke 

H  senseless  Something  to  resist 

the  stroke 
Of  unpermitted  paw — upon 

the  pain 
Of  Gverlasting  penalties — if 

broke. 


I  sometimes  think  the  pussy 
willows  grey 

Hre  Hncfel  Kittens  who  have  lost 

their  way, 
Hnd  every  Bulrush  on  the 

river  bank 
H  Cat-Cail  from  some  lovely 

Cat  astray. 


Sometimes  I  tblnh  perchance 
that  HUab  may, 
QQben  be  created  Cats,  haw 

tbrown  away 
'Cbe  'Calls  Tic  marred  In 

making,  and  tbey  grew 
Co  Cat-Calls  and  to  pussy- 

(HiUows  grey. 


I 


Hnd  lately,  when  I  was  not 
feeling  fit, 

Bereft  alike  of  piety  and  Slit, 
'Cbere  came  an  Hngel  Shape 

and  offered  me 
H  fragrant  plant  and  bid  me 

taste  of  it. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRAR1 


that  reviving  f)erb, 
that  Spicy  Oleed, 
Che  Cat-f-Jip.    TTbo'  'tie  good  in 

time  of  need, 
Hb,  feed  upon  it  lightly,  for 

who  knows 

'Co  what  unlovely  antics  it  may 

lead 


8trange— is  it  not?— that  of 
the  numbers  who 
Before  me  passed  this  Door  of 

Darkness  tbrp', 
Not  one  returns  tbro*  it  again, 

altbo' 
Ofttimes  I  *ve  waited  bere  an 

bour  or  two* 


1 


; 

19 


but  a  'Cent  where  takes 
his  one  flight's  Rest 
H  Rodent  to  the  Realms  of 

Death  addressed, 
3Hhen  Cook,  arising,  looks  for 

him  and  then- 
Baits,  and  prepares  it  for 

another  Guest* 


<^?1[. 


<7"*bey  say  the  Lion  and  the 
V/    Lizard  keep 

Courts  where  jfamsbf  d 

gloried  and  drank  deep. 
'Cbe  Lion  is  my  cousin ;  I 

don't  know 
is — nor  shall  it 
break  my  sleep. 


"-" 


Impotent  glimpses  of  the 
6ame  displayed 

(Jpon  the  Counter- -temptingly 

arrayed; 
IMtber  and  thither  moved  or 

checked  or  weighed, 
Hnd  one  by  one  back  in  the  Ice 

Chest  laid. 


.vr: 

::T 


'     Sasaki 


bat  if  the  Sole  could  fling 

the  Ice  aside, 
Hud  with  me  to  some  Hrea's 

haven  glide - 
Cdere  *t  not  a  Shame,  were  't 

not  a  shame  for  it 
In  this  Cold  prison  crippled  to 

abide? 


<&*&-«* 


8ome  for  the  Glories  of  the 
Sole,  and  Some 
]Mew  for  the  proper  Bowl  of 

JVIilk  to  come, 

Hb,  take  the  fish  and  let  your 

Credit  go, 
Hnd  plead  the  nimble  of  an 

empty  "Cum, 


One  thing  is  certain:  tbo'  this 
Stolen  Bite 
Should  be  my  last  and  (Bratb 

consume  me  quite, 
One  taste  of  It  within  the  Hrea 

caught 
Better  than  at  the  Table  lost  * 

outright. 


****. 


Indeed,  indeed  Repentance  oft 
before 

I  swore,  but  was  I  hungry  when 

I  swore? 
Hnd  then  and  then  came  Cook 

-with  f)ose  in  band- 
drowned  my  glory  in  a 

sorry  pour* 


bat  without  ashing  hither 

harried  whence, 
Hnd  without  ashing  whither 

harried  bence- 
O,  many  a  taste  of  that 

forbidden  Sole 

JMust  down  the  memory  of  that 

Insolence. 


Reaven,  but  the  vision  of  a 
flowing  Bowl; 

Hnd  f)ell,  the  sizzle  of  a  frying 

Sole 

f)eard  in  the  hungry  Darkness, 

where  JVlyself , 

So  rudely  cast,  must  impotently 

roll. 


Che  Vine  has  a  tough  fibre 
which  about 

(ftbile  clings  my  Being;-  -let  the 

Canine  flout 

Oil  his  Bass  Voice  be  pitched 

to  such  loud  key 
It  shall  unlock  the  door  I  mew 

without. 


s 


ap  from  the  Basement  to  the 
Seventh  flat 
I  rose,  and  on  the  Crown  of 

fashion  sat, 

Hnd  many  a  Ball  unravelled 

by  the  way- 

But  not  the  JMaster's  angry  Bawl 

of  "Scat r 


to  the  Olell  of  Wisdom  I 
-and  lo! 

Olitb  my  own  paw  I  wrought  to 

make  it  flow, 

Hnd  This  was  all  the  Harvest 

that  X  reaped: 

(tte  come  like  Kittens  and  like 

Cats  we  go. 


TTfhy  be  this  Ink  the  fount  of 
VIA    Slit?— who  dare 
Blaspheme  the  glistening  pen- 
drink  as  a  snare? 
H  Blessing?—!  should  spread 
it,  should  I  not? 
Hnd  if  a  Curse-  -why,  then  upset 

it!— there  I 


H  moment's  Rait,  a    ^ 
momentary  Taste 
Of  Bitter,  and  amid  the  Trickling 

{Haste 

I  wrought  strange  shapes  from 
]Ma*h  to  )Mahi,  yet 
I  hnow  not  what  I  wrote,  nor 

why  they  chased. 


Sak, 


X  beyond  the  pale  am 
safely  past, 

O,  but  the  long,  long  time  their 

Rage  shall  last, 
'  they  call  to  supper, 
I  shall  heed 
Hs  a  Stone  Cat  should  heed  a 

pebble  cast* 


Hnd  that  perverted  Soul 
beneath  the  Sky 

"Cbey  call  the  Dog-  -freed  not  bis 

angry  Cry; 

]Vot  all  bis  threats  can  make 
me  budge  one  bit, 
all  bis  empty  Bluster 

terrify. 


Cbey  are  no  other  than  a 
moving  Show 

Of  whirling  Shadow  Shapes  that 

come  and  go 

JVIe-ward  thro'  jVIoon  illumined 
Darkness  hurled, 
tn  midnight,  by  the  Lodgers  in 

the  Row. 


when  young  did  eagerly 
frequent 
'Che  Backyard  fence  and  beard 

great  Hrgument 
Hbout  it,  and  Hbout,  yet 

evermore 

Came  out  witb  fewer  fur  tban  in 

I  went. 


IP 


Hb,  me!  if  you  and  I  could 
but  conspire 
tx>  grasp  tbis  Sorry  Scbeme  of 

things  entire, 
Qlould  we  not  sbatter  it  to 

bits,  and  tben 

enfold  it  nearer  to  our  fiearfs 

Desire? 


X 

\ 


Co'  "Cwo  and  "Cwo  make  four 
by  rule  of  line, 
Or  they  make  twenty-two  by 

Logic  fine, 
Of  all  the  figures  one  may 

fathom,  I 

Shall  ne'er  be  floored  by  anything 

but 


Hnd  fear  not  lest  existence 
shut  the  Door 
On  YOU  and  JVIe,  to  open  it  no 

more, 
'Che  Cream  of  Life  from  out 

your  Bowl  shall  pour 
]Sine  times— ere  it  lie  broken  on 

the  floor. 


8o,  if  the  fish  you  Steal— the 
Cream  you  drink — 
6nd9  in  what  all  begins  and  ends 

in,  Think, 
dnless  the  Stem  Recorder 

points  to  ffine, 
'  They  would  drown  you- 
still  you  shall  not  sink. 


ff3? 


